Charlie Ota keeps OPBF 154lb belt

By Joe Koizumi

Japan-based American warrior, WBC#15/WBA#12/WBO#10 Charlie Ota (AKA Charles Bellamy; 23-1-1, 16 KOs), 152, impressively kept his regional belt for the eighth time when he finally finished durable ex-Japanese titlist Koji Numata (20-7-1, 15 KOs), 153.25, at 2:40 of the ninth round in a scheduled twelve on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. The sturdy Numata was the mandatory challenger to Charlie, who kept moving and scoring with light but more accurate combinations than the reckless and roundhouse Numata, piling up points steadily. After the fourth, the open scoring system indicated the champ was leading on points: 39-38, 39-37 and 40-36. The fleet-footed champ had an upper hand as he remained southpaw entirely for three minutes in round five, and had Numata fall with vicious combinations midway in the sixth. However, it wasn’t an easy fight for the champ. Numata turned very desperate on a do-or-die strategy (if it might be called a strategy), shaking up the champ to dominate the eighth session. The second open scoring after the eighth read 77-74, 78-74 and 78-73 in Charlie’s favor. In a give-and-take affair, the end abruptly visited with Charlie connecting with very effective and accurate combos that badly dropped Numata for the count. His continual accumulation of damage had him make no actual effort to pull himself up since he looked really exhausted and mentally dejected as well. It was truly a crowd-pleasing contest. Promoter: Shinto Promotions.